


Little Pieces

by NoMoreTears707



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: "Levi Thank You", Afterlife, Angst, Boyfriend jacket, Drabbles, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Infamous Eruri Books (XD), Liege, M/M, Quarantine, Romance, Scars, canonverse, eruriweek2020, teenage years
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:20:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 2,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27677977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoMoreTears707/pseuds/NoMoreTears707
Summary: Anthology of drabbles I wrote for Eruri Week 2020! ♥Boyfriend Jacket // Quarantine // Teenage Years // Scars // Afterlife // "Levi Thank You" // Liege // + Free Bonus Day.
Relationships: Levi/Erwin Smith
Comments: 26
Kudos: 42





	1. Boyfriend Jacket

**Author's Note:**

> I made these drabbles for Eruri Week 2020. I hope you like them! ♥
> 
> As usual, sorry for my English (I keep learning, I promise!) and thank you for your patience and support. :')
> 
> Note: Chapters with spoilers from the manga have a special note at the beginning!
> 
> ~
> 
> THANKS FOR READING! ♥♥♥

**T** here are nights like this, difficult. Eternities in which falling asleep sounds like an epiphany. But there are some nights in particular that, without him, are not only difficult.

They are so painful that they freeze him and torture him and tear him apart.

Levi hates himself for doing it again, for going to his closet, pulling the jacket and covering his shoulders with it when he sits in his usual chair, the only _bed_ he uses. He holds the empty sleeves against his chest and asks himself the same stupid question, which will always find only one correct answer.

Does he regret it? No, never.

This eternity is empty, it is without Erwin Smith, but even if his absence freezes him and tortures him and tears him apart, he's safe right now.

Levi sighs as he lets the heat of the old black jacket to cover him, his hands holding the sleeves tightly against his heart, a promise the only concept that keeps him alive.

He will never regret having saved Erwin from hell; a place like this will never deserve him, not enough, not a bit.


	2. Quarantine

**E** rwin is like a titan, he never gets sick. Flu doesn't mean anything to him; it's as if the diseases know it's not a good idea to mess with the commander of the Survey Corps. That is why, on the rare occasions in which he gets sick, the Corps becomes a total disaster. It does it because losing him means they're missing the brain, an arm and both legs.

And the bastard refuses to rest, making things worse.

"Levi, I'm fine, I don't have a fever anymore," he assures as he walks to his office. "You know this interview is important for us..."

He almost seems to enjoy being irresponsible with his health; nothing in this world could annoy Levi more. Having to keep both eyes on him all day is impractical.

He can't think of other stuff, not knowing Erwin doesn't want to take care of himself.

"You just expose yourself to have a relapse; you need to stay isolated," Levi replies. 

Erwin chuckles. 

What the…?

This guy is like a brat in _that_ age. He doesn't know the meaning of a simple, stupid _no_. 

"I'll keep my distance, don't worry. I wouldn't want to infect the journalists," Erwin replies with a gentle voice.

It's true; it's also about protecting others; he needs to stay isolated in order to not to infect someone else. But no, Levi thinks; he can't take care of everyone, his patience has a limit. 

All he can do is to protect his reckless commander from how little he seems to care about himself.

"You're dirty," he says later to the journalists, stunned by how Levi refuses to let them get inside the office where the interview will take place. "Wash your hands first, but do it well, washing between your fingers. And remember to keep your distance; you can't see Erwin in this state."

The journalists look at him as one would look at a living creature with five eyes and seven legs, as something that doesn't fit into the world they know.

Levi doesn't give a damn about being the _cleaning freak_ , the _biggest lunatic_ inside this nuthouse.

Someone has to take care of Erwin, and that is something he's not willing to leave in other hands. Taking care of that reckless brat that survives inside of him it's part of his mission, after all.

It's what matters the most for the well-being of his own heart.


	3. Teenage Years

**B** egging for coins before the temple of those who pray to the walls, more worry about themselves than about a boy who hasn't eaten for days.

~

 **C** losing his mouth before those who would never understand the meaning of his dreams, his body and soul exhausted after a long day of training.

~

 **A** whole life separates them from others. Experiences do.

They didn't ask for a past full of tragedy, of suffering.

But it happened; it's true.

It would be so nice to allow themselves to trust someone else, to lose themselves in trust, to know they _can_ , that it's possible.

~

 **W** hile those walls keep him far away from truth.

~

 **W** hile misery forces him to steal to survive.

~

 **O** nly in loneliness they can trust.

~

Because they are like ghosts lost in a thick fog. Condemned to loneliness by experiences, luck embraces them only when they manage to hear a heartbeat identical to their own.

But it's not time, not yet. 

~

 **B** ut it will.

~

Because they will find each other.

And they will **trust**.

And they will fight.

And they will _love_.


	4. Scars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: MANGA SPOILERS!!!

**H** e has never cared about his appearance beyond the cleanliness he so badly needs to keep tidy every day of his existence. As far as that weird concept of _beauty_ is concerned, the reality is that no, he has never stopped to think about it.

Or so he says to himself, all to concentrate on what is truly relevant.

Once, someone detected the insecurity that all his life he has refused to recognize, that related to his height; also, that someone detected what in Levi had always been present but hidden, that being convinced that he's not beautiful, the fact that there is no beauty to admire in him.

Of course, that someone was Erwin. Erwin, who has been resting for so many years now, so far away from this fucking hell. 

He knows he needs to stop doing this. He knows that looking at himself in the mirror without the bandages is a waste of time, focusing on irrelevant things in the middle of the rumbling that is happening right now. But that is a little how he feels about this battle, perhaps. Because he didn't lie to Magath when he decided to join this improvised alliance.

His goal is to kill Zeke.

That is, to fulfill his promise to Erwin.

He touches the scars on his face in the mirror, looking at them as a testimony of the mistake he made in letting Zeke escape once again. He remembers Erwin's hand on his cheek as he keeps his little finger on the mirror; he remembers looking into his blue eyes almost without blinking.

"Beautiful." That is what he always used to say.

Erwin always saw something different in him. He didn't see the thug, but the talented fighter; he didn't see the _grumpy midget_ , but a man, a beautiful one, one with whom he loved to share bed and battles, life itself.

Erwin saw his wings as a real thing; he saw in him the hope that Erwin himself represented better than anyone else.

Maybe, if he was still…

Levi puts on new bandages. After that, he prepares to leave this room to get on that flying ship and go in search of his destiny.

Erwin always saw something beautiful in him, he always saw what was _good_ in him.

If he wasn't wrong, then there is still beauty in him despite these scars that are testimonies of all his mistakes.

Above all, there is still a chance to do what he wants so badly.

To kill Zeke.

To fulfill his promise.

To finally rest.


	5. Afterlife

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: MANGA SPOILERS!!!

**H** is steps don't make a sound on this infinite sand that covers the ground; it's as if his feet were floating. Despite that, he walks in slow motion, without understanding what is real and what is not.

And he sees the light. 

He sees it, it's before him, finally, and it's shining, the light as blue as the eyes of the one who helps him to not give up every day. Because when Levi feels tired, Erwin's memory illuminates him. He appears in his mind, before him, and helps him to get up.

Like when, under that rain beside the river, dying, he swore that Hanji's voice was, in fact, the other one, the usual one, _his_ voice.

Is it possible that...?

Erwin used to tell him that, when someone dies, that is it, that only an eternal darkness follows. Levi shared his way of thinking, he did it until he knew about the blue light that is in front of his eyes right now, this tree as infinite as this sand. 

The coordinate that connects all the Subjects of Ymir, one part of the other, every light speck as important as all the others. All part of this tree that illuminates this darkness, perhaps the same that Erwin used to speak of. 

What if Erwin is _still_ part of…?

He reaches the tree after walking for minutes or centuries; time seems to be another kind of concept in this weird place. He raises his healthy hand and touches the light with its five fingers.

A chill runs down his spine. It's a rope made of ice. When it squeezes his entire body, leaves him without strength. 

He shakes due to the flow of energy that explodes inside his head, he does so due to fear and anxiety and desire and love, that love that will always connect him to only one man above all.

"Levi..." a voice says behind his back.

"Er..." he whispers with a lump in his throat.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

 **B** ut he wakes up.

He sits down. As he looks around, he notices that he's in a forest, that Hanji has made some stew, that Eldians and Marleyans cannot agree, and the alliance cannot make things easier.

"Will they shut up?" he asks weakly.

Furiously.

He cannot die yet, not until he fulfills his promise; dreaming about Erwin is what helps him to stay strong. 

It's exactly what he needs right now. That tree, that voice, that blue light. 

Because even if no one understands - _they_ never will- that is what they were for each other, the hand that helped the other, the eyes that looked beyond the other's, the love that attached them to each other.

Soon. They will soon return to that natural state, the original one; he's sure. That is what Levi promises himself before to try to sleep again.

Because perhaps there is no more than that light at the end, than that tree surrounded by eternal sands and eternal living creatures sunk in another concept of life.

And whatever happens, Levi promises as he closes his eyes, he will run, jump, _fly_ , and he will find Erwin one more time, and again, and forever.

He will until the end of time.


	6. "Levi, Thank You."

**H** e still remembers the first time he saw him; Erwin thinks about it staring at him in this corner of the world where, despite the destruction, only the two of them seem to exist. That day, he recalls, Levi was flying like a bird in the middle of the Underground.

And how small was that place for his magnificent wings.

Erwin still didn't know how much Levi was going to mean to him; he only knew that he admired him, that his talent was a treasure without a home. Because Levi inside the Underground or inside the walls was the same; he was a bird trapped in a filthy cage, one that had no way to fly, not in the situation he was in, not among the cruelty of this world. 

But no, he still didn't know that Levi would end up being all of this, this honest, hard-working, practical, brilliant, inspiring person. Also passionate, beautiful, unique.

Levi is everything. There is no other word that can define how much he is. Because every time Erwin hears those voices inside his head that tell him and repeat him that he's a fraud and a selfish man who just wants to see the...

He smiles; noticing what Erwin does, something in Levi's stoicism seems to twist, to break into a thousand pieces. Erwin holds back the tears that cover his eyes.

"Levi, thank you..." he whispers.

Because he could never sacrifice his humanity, that is to say that child who had a dream. Because even though he couldn't do it, Levi forgave him, or accepted him.

He didn't stop following him, believing in him, loving him as he is...

His lips tremble when he can no longer hold back himself; Erwin smiles more when he feels a tear slide down his skin. In front of him, Levi's eyes shine.

That is it.

Levi saw the child full of dreams. He saw him, and he decided to love him as part of those unforgivable imperfections that constitute the human that is always behind the commander.

Now, Levi is embracing that child. He's protecting him.

The little Erwin has left alive after all those mistakes and death; that child will survive.

He tries to say something else when he understands it; Levi doesn't let him say a single word. He leaps on him to embrace and kiss him, and it's rushed, passionate, rough, sweet.

Everything.

"Thanks to you," Levi answers at the end of the kiss.

Erwin's mind, sunk in the deepest darkness, cannot understand anymore the significance of those words.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

 **T** hanks for opening that cage to allow him to embrace him in the middle of this sky that will always be so small for them, for their feelings, for their bond.

That is what Levi tries to convey.

This love that burns, but that has made them so, so happy in the epicentre of hell.


	7. Liege

**A** fter having sex, it doesn't matter the position or role or how tired they are after that, Levi always does the same.

He places Erwin's face on his chest so he can scratch his hair with his fingers.

In the meantime, Erwin tends to remain silent. 

At the beginning of this facet of their relationship, this moment of affection was quite curious to him for coming from someone so particular to express emotions. These days, so much time later, although he experiences it as the most natural gesture, deep down he still wonders why, what drives Levi to do it.

Right now, he asks himself the same question, although not for long, because the fingers scratch so softly his head that he just wants to sleep.

He smiles, letting dreams embrace him as Levi scratches him. Maybe there is no particular reason.

Maybe, Levi just…

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

 **I** t's a natural instinct. It's needing to do it, it's needing it as much as he needs air.

Every time he scratches his head, the only thing Levi expects, deep in his heart, is to protect him.

From hell.

From the cruelty of this world.

From the deaths that weigh so much on his shoulders.

Levi doesn't know why, or perhaps he does, because this instinct comes from the love that he just feels for Erwin, but yeah.

What he wants more in this life is this.

This, above all.

To protect Erwin Smith with his body and soul.


	8. Free Bonus Day: The Books

" **W** hy are they fucking?"

Erwin stops paying attention to the documents he's been reading for hours and turns to Levi. He finds him looking at two books that are on the bed. When he realizes the kind of question Levi has asked, Erwin gets close to him, surprised. As he stops beside him, he looks at the books with curiosity.

"What do you mean?"

Levi points out the books and studies them in apparent detail, frowning more than usual. He looks between impressed and disgusted.

"They're fucking."

"But they are..."

"They're books, yeah, I have eyes and I can tell, but why the fuck did you put them like that? They're _fucking_!" 

Erwin looks at them once more. He holds back a laugh when he notices that it's true; the way they are placed, too forced to have been arbitrary, makes it look like the books are having sex. 

"I must have been too distracted when I put them there like that," he says. He doesn't laugh, but his voice shows how funny he finds the image. "I hope they are having a good time."

Levi turns to him. He clicks his tongue as he evades his eyes. 

Why are his cheeks so red?

"Look at you. Now you'll start to speculate about which book is putting it in," Levi answers.

Determined to continue with this absurd dialogue, Erwin can no longer hold a laugh.

"Well, if you ask me, I would say..."

"Shut up." Levi turns to him, again. "We're in the middle of a very delicate situation, big guy. If you want to fuck you just have to tell me. Stop sending me confusing messages by putting two books fucking on your bed. It's pathetic."

Erwin blinks in slow motion. When he sees how Levi looks at him, blushing, angry, also quite turned on, he understands that he's serious. He really thinks he...

"You caught me," he admits laughing.

Because it's not true, the truth is that he's not 15; he wouldn't leave such an absurd message on the bed to ask Levi for intimate company. What adult with enough common sense would do such a stupid thing? But he has no way to lie.

Things are changing now that they have Eren, many difficult decisions await them. His mind is exhausted.

It's been a while since the last time they…

Levi lifts the books and leaves them on the table in the same position they were in bed; it's as if he didn't want to interrupt them, which makes Erwin laugh again, almost childishly. After that, Levi holds him by the arm and pushes him against the mattress. Finally, he sits on his hips and rests his hands on his chest. 

"Which one did you say was putting it in?" he asks him in a low, slow whisper.

In response, Erwin bites his lip. Yes, it's been a long time.

Maybe it's a good idea to lend the bed to the books more often.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!!! ♥
> 
> I love Eruri and I'm happy to participate in Eruri Week for second year in a row. Since the anthology I published last year (Six Stories And One Wish), I think I learned a lot. My English is a little better now, and I think I know the characters more than last year. If you already read the other one, I hope you can see my improvement. :')
> 
> Thanks for reading my fics. It means A LOT to me!
> 
> ~Pam//NMT707
> 
> • Tumblr: @nomoretears-707  
> • Twitter: @NMTears707


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